Chapel was suspended last month with pay after a woman he had arrested for drunken driving accused him of sexual harassment.

The woman, Cynthia Wilcox, was convicted of driving under the influence. She had testified that Chapel pursued her for a date, kissed her against her will, and fondled her during a drunken 3 a.m. conversation - outside her apartment - during which he asked for sex.

The commander's review board, comprised of Lieutenants Hal Reeves, Lee Hunter and Chuck Idell, convened Tuesday night because Chapel had informed them he wished to make a statement.

But, when Chapel was allowed to take the podium, he began discussing Florida's police officers' bill of rights law and said the hearing should be kept secret.

Hunter, the chairman of the panel, told Chapel he wouldn't close the hearing. Chapel had made reference to criminal misdemeanor charges that can be brought against those who reveal internal affairs investigations - a maneuver Hunter termed ''intimidating or an attempt to be intimidating.''

When Hunter refused to exclude the media, Chapel refused to make a verbal statement.

The statement said the charges against Chapel were distorted by the media, that Wilcox used her ''womanly attributes'' and made up the charges to get out of her drunken driving charge, and that Leesburg Police Chief Jim Brown's remarks on the case have been unfair.

Brown's written demands for an explanation from Chapel have been ''hyped and sensationalized'' as much or more than media accounts, Chapel charged.

The board accepted the written statement and adjourned without comment.